There’s a lot on the news and on TV  this weekend about New Orleans and the ten year anniversary of Katrina. You’ll hear a lot about how the city has been reborn and a lot about how it’s still a mess, it’s a bit of both, and to be honest New Orleans has always sort of been a mix of the grand and then decay. There are more restaurants and bars and more young people and upstarts and artists than there was before the hurricane, and better less tacky and touristy places than before, but there are also parts of the city where 70% of the people never came back, where there empty lots and abandoned homes littering the landscape. All the old problems of poverty and crime remain, but in a way New Orleans in all it’s grandeur and problems is what makes it the most unique of American cities. There simply put is no place in the country quite like New Orleans.

Fall and just before the holidays is a great time to go, the temperatures are more manageable, the humidity drops, you have the Voodoo Music Festival in October and of course the holiday decorations. If you want any tips on New Orleans beyond Bourbon Street, give me a shout!